Into the desert
by fanmind
Summary: 17-year-old high school students Boa Hancock and Nico Robin have no idea what awaits them when they go to Alabasta, in the company of two class mates. Will they find what they re hoping for, or will the trip be a disaster? Some pairings later on in the story.
1. Chapter 1

**A modern time one piece-fanfic. Even though I think all characters in this manga are awesome, this story is mainly about favorites Boa Hancock and Nico Robin. The second year of the girls-only high school have ended, and they are both invited to go to Alabasta (I imagine it is located somewhere in Africa) with princess Vivi and her friend. This is my first fanfic, so please ror.**

**I do not own One Piece, all rights belong to skilled author Eichiro Oda. **

**Chapter 1. Pilot**

**_Hancock_**

It was history class, and their white-haired teacher was in her heaven, excitingly giving a speech about some desert to her uninterested students. Hancock sat staring at the clock and, next to it, the calendar marking days left of the term. Thinking about the summer, she didn´t have to look around to see what everyone in the room were doing. Perona, who sat next to her, discreetly played some stupid pet game on her cell phone, with a colored shell to match her pink hair perfectly. To their right sat a blue-haired and orange-haired girl, the second drawing something in her notebook and the other curiously watching. Nothing unusual there. A green-haired girl sat still in the back, studying what was happening in silence, yawning now and then. The only one with a hair color that didn´t fit into a rainbow, except Hancock´s own black hair of course, sat in the middle front bench. Alone, as usual, paying too much attention to the teacher, her pen sliding across the paper as if she was trying to win a writing competition.

The blue-haired girl, Vivi, threw some paper at the ideal student girl, and missed, resulting in her neighbor, Nami, giggling crazily. Robin snapped her head around, which caught the aroused teacher´s attention, and Vivi ended up with one hour detention. Hancock sighed heavily; she longed for her twin sisters, younger and still more mature than any in her class, but they were already home, celebrating freedom.

She had liked her classmates in the beginning. New to the school, she had to try hard to hid her fear behind curtains of coolness. The girls of Amazon High had been very inviting at first, sharing notes, lip stick and gossips with each other as if being best friends. Although, after the foul incident. even the teachers had started questioning her.

She sighed again. Being beautiful like her wasn´t always perfect.

**_Robin_**

The majority of the students soon left the classroom, after the bell rang. The only ones left were the teacher, Olivia, a bit depressed Vivi and Robin.

"I have to go home, for a meeting," said Vivi. "It´s for the sake of the kingdom."

"That´s your excuse to everything, miss Vivi. We don´t favorize anyone here, not even princesses."

"It´s sexual harassment," Vivi tried.

"You´re just quoting miss Kalifa," said Olivia, more irritated now. "Here´s your extra assignment. Sit down, be silent, start working."

Vivi took the paper, turned around and started looming back to her desk. As she passed Robin, who had had time to read her note, she smiled to her. Robin bent back slightly, startled. It was all too weird. Still unsure, she rose and went to the teacher´s desk.

"Yes, Robin?" asked Olivia.

"I, umm… I looked up the third king of Alabasta in the fourth dynasty, as you talked about last lesson. But there seems to be something wrong…"

"What is it?"

"Well, it´s about the Rio…"

Olivia burst into laughter. "Oh, I see what you mean. Well, it´s really not that important. The people of the time tended to be rather, well, certain. They had many ways of writing, in this troubled time when wars raged. The poneglyphs were just another of this various writing styles."

"But why are they written on indestructable stones, then?"

The teacher shifted uncomfortably. Robin noticed the sudden change in her face. Then, she was back to her normal self. "Robin, I´ve already told you that history is about what has happened, more than why it happened. You ask me why they wrote the letters on stones, and I must say, I sadly don´t know. Perhaps you could ask your social science teacher. But don´t overwork yourself. I am sure you have many other things than books that occupy your time."

You mean friends? she thought to herself. Yeah, right. She thanked the teacher, shot one last wondering glance at Vivi who grinned back, and left.

**Hancock**

"What are you doing in summer?" Hancock asked. Perona mumbled something, her eyes fixed on the cell phone. Hancock had barely tolerated her as company before she got that despicable, pink thing by her father. Now, she was tired of her.

Alone, Nami walked around in the corridor. Without Vivi at her side, she was strolling around and about like a lost child looking for her mother. Hancock threw her hair back, and decided to take this opportunity.

Nami seemed to shrank as she approached her, but Hancock gave her her warmest smile. "Hey, Nami!" The orange-haired girl relaxed a little, and let Hancock drive her arm through hers. "I´m soooo glad this day´s over. Are you taking the bus home?"

"I planned on walking, with Vivi. It´s a nice day."

Hancock laughed. "Instead of waiting for her an whole hour, how about going shopping with me?"

Nami looked at her, surprised. "What?"

"I know we´re not best friends, but I need someone who´s as good at clothes as you are," she explained.

Nami bite her lip. "I don´t know…"

"Of course, you can shop for yourself with my gift card. I have a lot of money left…"

Nami was convinced. She started dragging Hancock to the exit, speaking fast. Hancock smiled to herself. First step in the Alabasta operation was complete.

Hancock knew Nami´s family was poor, but the girl´s behavior was starting to nag on her. At first, she hadn´t noticed, having Nami distract her by endless chatting. Nami had "borrowed" the gift card in the second store, and Hancock had had trouble checking what Nami did, as she spent much time in dressing rooms, with Nami bringing her clothes faster than she could try them. After 45 minutes, when they sat down for a coffee, Nami had about three times as many plastic bags full of clothes as Hancock. At least, she had payed for her own drink.

"I´m glad we could do this!" Nami said. "You´re so nice, Hancock."

She managed to smile back. "I´m glad you´re having fun." She sipped her coffee. Nami´s cellphone buzzed.

"Excuse me," she said, and picked it out of her bag. She looked at it for a while. "Vivi´s done with detention," she said, after reading the text. "Poor her, having to stay for some history assignment."

"I´m sure she´s fine. She´s the princess of Alabasta, right? Only good for her to know more about it."

"I guess so," Nami said.

"Have you ever been to Alabasta?" Hancock asked.

Nami shock her head. "No. But, soon that´ll change."

Hancock put on a surprised face. "You´re going to Alabasta? When?" Of course, she knew the answer before Nami said it. Perona was very good at finding out stuff about others. It was almost as if she could walk through walls.

"Yes. Me and Vivi are going, during summer," Nami said, as she texted back to her friend.

"That sounds amazing! I wish I could go there as well." She sighed and leaned her head against the elbow. "I never travelled anywhere. My sisters are so unfair, they never want to go anywhere far away with me!"

Nami looked at her compassionately. "I´m sure they´re just protecting you."

"Maybe. But it´s still annoying."

Nami silently read another text in her phone. Hancock took a few sips of her still warm coffee, waiting. Any moment now, she thought.

Nami looked up. "How about you go to Alabasta with us?" Hancock felt the heart leap in her chest. She took a deep breath, keeping her calmness. So close now. Can´t mess this up.

"Really? You want me to come? Vivi too?"

"Yeah, absolutely. After all, she allowed me to bring another friend." Nami smiled. "I wasn´t gonna bring anyone, but since you want to go… I mean, you´re nice and everything."

Hancock smiled triumphantly. "I never thought you would ask."

_Robin_

Robin had decided to wait at the school. She could study as well here as at home, after all. The silent evening atmosphere fitted her perfectly also. In the hour, the only one disturbing her was the janitor. She believed his name was Kaku, but wasn´t sure. He was the one male at the school, and only worked there at the evenings, when no one was supposed to be present. He gave her a surprised look, and even froze still for a few moments before continue working.

It took an hour for Vivi to be finished. By then, her sitting muscles ached from the wooden bench and even her neck hurt a bit, bending over as much as she had to make the dim light reach the book pages. She regretted not staying in the class room instead, but she had still been mad at Olivia for her obviously lying about the poneglyphs. She knew she was very unfair, but the teacher had beocme more than a friend to her, and she had thought they trusted each other enough to share any information about history. Clearly, she had been wrong.

When she heard footsteps appear, she quickly put the book she was reading in her bag, and stood up. Vivi came out of a passageway, and quickly looked around. She spotted Robin, and waved her to come. Robin had reached her by the time she was by the exit doors. Vivi gently held the door for her.

Outside was a small, black car parked. The door to the driver seat opened, and someone stepped out. It was obviously her butler or something; the driver had a typical black suit and a hair cut that reminded of the renaissance, with some of it curled. He bowed to Vivi, and she bent her head a little in response.

"Good evening, princess," he said. "Is this the girl?"

"Hello. Yes, this is Nico Robin." The butler´s eyes went wide, which didn´t surprise Robin a bit.

"Nice to meet you, miss Nico," he said stiffly.

"Yeah, you too. Please call me Robin." The butler ignored the last part.

"Princess, miss Nico, our guest has been kept waiting long enough. I recommend we take off now."

"Of course, Igaram. Robin, please, go ahead and take a seat."

Igaram opened the back door for her, and she climbed in, Vivi entering through the other side. Tall as she was, she sat very uncomfortably in the tiny car. Even worse, it´s shock absorber was as good as useless. But the princess didn´t seem annoyed at all by the car´s shape, and so, Robin didn´t mention it.

If the car seemed very unsuitable for a royal person, the house far by made up for it. It looked like a small castle, with iron rails surrounding it. The grinds opened, and the car started going up along the forest-like road.

Igaram stopped the car after it getting about halfway to the main port. Vivi was out the car and running forward before either Robin or the butler opened their car door.

"She´s so reckless," Robin heard Igaram mutter, the polite tone gone from his voice. She smiled, despite herself. She opened her own car door second after Igaram. By then, Vivi had reached the stairs in front of the main entrance, and stood talking with some woman. They looked similar, and Robin guessed they were related.

The woman smiled at them when they approached. Robin bowed to her, as well as Igaram did.

"This is Nico Robin, aunt," Vivi said.

"Welcome to my household, dear," the woman said. "My name is Lucy, and I´m the sister to the king, as you must have understood."

Robin nodded. "Do you live here?" she asked.

"Yes. I married a foreign prince long ago, and since I haven´t lived in Alabasta. Luckily, the heat surely takes its toll on an aged woman."

"You´re not old, Lucy!" Vivi bursted out.

"Enough with small talk, my dears," Lucy said. "Now when the last guests have arrived, the awaiting buffet can´t be ignored any longer."

"I agree with you, aunt," Vivi replied. They walked through the huge, red door, arm in arm, with Robin nervously following and Igaram walking behind.

The hallway was decorated with various statues, made of wood or earth. Many of them resembled cats or dogs, in typical desert style Robin guessed. Pyramids were painted on the walls. It was obvious that Lucy had done the decorating.

They soon entered the mansion´s dining room. Unusually, it was round. It consisted of three tables. The tallest table stood in the middle, and two smaller ones stood on each side next to the middle part of the table. Food was placed at one of the small tables. Robin thought of the gratin at home that was supposed to have been today´s dinner. She might have to throw it away, if she were gonna enjoy this luxury royal buffet instead. Oddly, the thought was uncomfortable.

They weren´t alone in the room. Three men sat at one of the long sides, right in front of the food. Robin inhaled when she recognized one of the men. He sat viewing her, his arms tied in front of him, and a cigarr in his mouth even though the dinner was about to start. He stood up, to shake Vivi´s hand with a polite greeting. Then he turned to her.

Silent, she took his hand. It was warm and sweaty, and she was relieved when he let it go.

"This is Alabasta´s minister of…," Lucy began.

"...Culture. My name is Crocodile," the man finished. It was a mystery to her how he could talk with a cigarr in his mouth.

"N-nice to meet you… I… I am truly honoured, sir."

"This is Nico Robin, sir, the smartest girl in our school," Vivi said. Being called smart was nearly an insult among today´s youth. But Lucy nodded approvingly, and even Crocodile seemed a little impressed.

When everyone took their appointed seats around the table, Igaram showed her where she would sit, and she ended up next to Lucy, with her brother´s daughter on the other side. Robin, Lucy and Vivi sat right in front of Crocodile and his two men. The men hadn´t introduced themselves, and Robin started to wonder if they were just there for looks.

Before anyone started to eat any of the food, a servant appeared from out of nowhere and poured a bubbling red-colored drink from a bottle into all of their glasses. Everyone took a small sip of the drink, Robin doubting to do the same.

"It´s not alcohol, dear," Lucy assured her, and she nodded and tasted it. After she had put the glass back on the table, Lucy gestured to Crocodile.

"Please, you start," she said. He nodded and started putting food on his plate. The cigarr was long since gone, taken away by the servant serving the drinks.

Robin was the next to be allowed to take food, then Crocodile´s two men, Vivi, and lastly Lucy. Crocodile had started eating right away, so she did the same. She noticed that every piece of food was cutted, and they were only given forks and spoons, no knives. It was all very odd.

"Nico Robin," Crocodile said. "This must all be very strange to you."

"You mean why I´m eating with a princess and a minister of a royal household? Yes, it´s strange."

Crocodile smiled. "I have many reasons for coming here." He ate a mouthful, and swallowed. "Perhaps our dear princess Vivi had told you about our king´s promised stipendie course."

"Stipendie course?" She looked at Vivi.

"Smart children who get to study for a summer in Alabasta, staying at the royal castle."

"Close to the royal castle," Lucy corrected.

"There are a few different subjects in the course," Crocodile continued. "I have heard that you are very fond of history."

So this is what it´s all about, thought Robin. She looked at Vivi, who kept her eyes down at her food. So much for friendly support.

"I guess I am," Robin said. "But I can´t go to Alabasta, I´m afraid."

Crocodile raised an eyebrow. "Why could that be?"

"I…" She thought feebly. "I´ve gotten a summer job, at… at a cafe. It starts at monday. It would be rude to quit now."

Crocodile laughed. "I don´t think you understand. Only seven people is allowed to take the course each year. You will get to meet the king. It is a life-time privilege."

"He´s right, dear," Lucy said. "Travel, room, food… it is all for free."

"Umm, I need to think about it." She stood up. "Thank you for the food. Your hospitality…" She bowed, took her school bag and fled.

**Vivi**

"I have some news," Vivi said. Nami nodded.

The two friends were in Nami´s room. Nami, still dressed in her night clothes, sat on the bed, curiously leaning forward, and Vivi sat in one of two chairs. She had arrived early at the Saturday morning, being let in by Nami´s mother who were already working in their garden.

"Tell me," Nami said, eagerly.

"Nico Robin will go to Alabasta as well."

Nami was surprised. "Robin?"

"She´s in our class."

Nami glared at her. "I know that!"

"She´s coming to take the stipendie course, though. It´s not like I invited her or anything."

"I see. Well, I have some news too. You remember saying that I could bring a friend, right?"

"Yes?" Vivi said.

"I asked Hancock to come." Vivi took a deep breath.

"Hancock! Wha- When?! I thought you didn´t even like her!"

Nami shrugged. "We went shopping yesterday. She was nice." Vivi looked around at all the plastic bags that were present in Nami´s room. She got the idea straight. That witch had bribed her friend with clothes to go on the vacation with them. Nami noticed the anger in her eyes.

"It´ll be okay, Vivi," she said. "She is really nice. And did you know how much discount I got from some of the stores we visited? It´s like, every guy adores her just by looking at her. And she doesn´t even notice!"

"You don´t bring her to help you pick up guys, do you?" Vivi asked.

"No, that´s not it. Do you think it´s possible, though?"

Vivi put her palm against her forehead. "That´s it. I´ll keep you two in the castle, 24-7." Nami laughed, and Vivi smiled.

"Thank you. You´re a true best friend, Vivi," said Nami.

"So are you." The girls smiled at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

The second chapter... Some more characters introduced. One unnamed, but I´m sure you know who he is. Please, read, enjoy or disapprove, and review

I do not own One Piece.

Chapter 2: Arrival to Alabasta

**Steward**

Two pilots. Five passengers. And him, the steward. Crowded into a small, governmentally owned Cessna Citation, where the work of a steward were rather unnecessary. The sun had come up a few hours ago, but hadn´t enlighten his mood.

He had to say, the passengers were quite interesting though. He recognized the princess of course. She was wearing a white, hooded silk shirt and a beige, tall skirt. Her friend had short orange hair, and was wearing long dark-green pants, matched with a yellow halterneck top. They looked casually through separate magazines, tiredly exchanging a few words now and then. The servant sat by a window, studying the view through the window. A tall girl completely in black clothing sat reading a thick book. The last passenger was a sheer beauty. She sat in the back of the plane, tapping idly on a laptop, using the jet´s wireless net. Her saggy clothes didn´t compliment her body, but her long dark hair and her skin, shining and softened as silk, was almost exhilarating to look at. I have a girlfriend, he thought, and averted his eyes away from her, feeling ashamed.

The plane bumped a little, and the princess lifted her head from the magazine. "What was that?"

"Only an air current," her friend answered before him. "Right?" He nodded towards them and smiled. The plan bumped again.

"It´s temporary," he said. The sky above the Mediterranean had showed no signs of a storm the whole trip, and there shouldn´t be any trouble ahead. He checked his watch. Time to deliver lunch.

Princess Vivi and her friend had ordered sushi. The servant and the tall girl satisfied with a simple, cold vegetable soup, same as him. Lastly, he served the beautiful girl, blushing slightly while he handed her a caesar salad.

"Are we arriving soon?" she asked.

"In about two hours, miss." She looked disappointed. "Perhaps you´d like to watch a movie? What about… Twilight?" The girl stared at him, then snorted and looked away. He walked back to the steward´s seat, cursing silently to himself.

**Hancock**

They didn´t wait at the airport. After going off the plane, it was a short walk through the crowded building to a mini-van awaiting them. Stepping into the air-conditioned car was a relief. She leaned back in her seat, listening to Vivi and Nami talking next to her.

"I´m sooo glad school´s over," Nami said.

"Me too," Vivi said. "Although the holiday started two days ago, I feel very relaxed already. And I´m really glad to be home, as well."

"If you like it so much, then why do you go to a school in England?" Hancock asked. Vivi ignored the question.

"Look!" She pointed to their left. "There´s the castle."

"It´s really close to the airport," Robin commented. She was sitting in the middle seat, right behind the driver, Pell.

"Now, my ladies," Igaram said, turning around to look at them. "Miss Nico, you will meet up with Shanks, in a short while of time. Meanwhile, we will continue to the palace."

"Shanks?" Robin asked

"Yes. He will be one of your teachers for this summer course," Igaram answered, and smiled. "I think you´ll find him quite interesting."

"Oh," Robin said, wondering what exactly he meant.

"Here he is!" Igaram exclaimed. The car stopped, and soon a man approached them. Robin stepped out of the car before Igaram had opened the door for her. Hancock heard a few words getting exchanged, before Igaram was back in the car and had closed the door behind him.

The vehicle passed through a wooden gate, before stopping at a wide open square. Three men, casually dressed in everyday clothes, but wearing weapon hilts in their belts. They walked straight to the car.

"Is three guards really necessary, Igaram?" Vivi asked.

"Those three, plus Pell. A lot has happened here since you left, my princess. But you shouldn´t worry about that, at all."

To get to the castle, they had to walk through the town surrounding it, and passing through another wooden gate. Some of the townspeople greeted happily upon spotting Vivi, although many were too busy to even recognize them.

Hancock walked with her face slightly lifted backwards. I´ll soon have a nice sun tan, she thought. Luckily, she had brought her make up with her on the plane. She brushed her hair out of her face, and suddenly stopped.

The poster that had caught her attention were taped against a palm tree. A man stood beside it, about to take it down.

"No," she shouted, ran up to it and ripped it out of his hands. It split in two halves, and she ended up looking at half a face and huge gold letters written under it: `Exclusively this Saturday! Concert of beloved touring musician Brook! Get your tickets today!´

Nami suddenly stood beside her. "Hancock, are you okay?" Hancock turned to look at her, a wide smile on her face. Her heart beat fast and she suddenly felt dizzy. She was far beyond okay. She clutched the piece of paper against her chest.

Nami spotted the text on the poster. "Who´s Brook? I´ve never heard of him. He performs today? Do you like him?" Hancock was unable to answer.

"Nami! Hancock!" Vivi shouted. Nami looked back.

"Let´s go. Vivi said there´s dinner waiting." She grabbed Hancock by the arm and dragged her along. She would´ve fallen, had Nami not supported her. "Hancock?"

"The heat can be overwhelming for someone not used to the climate," Igaram said. "Miss Boa can take a rest in her guest room before dinner."

They walked up to the castle; she had seen it on TV, and she wasn´t any more impressed of it now than she had been then. She pretended to cough, and Nami looked worriedly at her.

"Would you like to be escorted to your room now, miss Hancock?" the princess´ servant asked. She nodded, and one of the guards stepped forward.

"I can take her. It´ll be fine, since we´re in the castle now."

"No." Igaram looked at Vivi. "Princess, I think it´d be more appropriate for you to show your guest to her room."

Vivi shrugged. "Guess you´re right. I´ll do it. You too, Nami. Come."

She walked a few steps behind her class mates. She didn´t really want them as her friends, and never would. As she walked, a large cat walked up right in front of her, stopped, looked at her and meowed.

She stared at it, before smiling, bowing forward and patted it. Vivi and Nami had stopped and stared at her. She shrugged, and continued walking.

The room was close to the gate of the castle. Fitting.

"This´ll be your room. You´ll share," Vivi said and opened the door. "It´s big though, with two beds."

"That´s great, Vivi," Nami said. She and Hancock went in and put down their luggage. Hancock stumped up to one bed and laid down.

"Do you feel better, Hancock?" Vivi asked. She nodded, and smiled assuringly at them. "Glad to hear. We´re gonna go have dinner, but if you´re not up to it, I can get food delivered to you later. Alright?"

She nodded again. "Thanks," she said.

"Great." Vivi took Nami under the arm. "Let´s go. I´m staaarving." The door closed, leaving her alone. She got up from the bed, searched through her luggage after a certain clothing. As she snuck out of the castle, the only one spotting her was a charwoman.

**Robin**

"Hey, girl! What´s your name?" the man asked her.

"Nico Robin."

"Ah. Nice to meet you, Robin. I´m Shanks." The man smiled and waved with a hand as he spoke. He was about thirty years old, and seemed very easygoing for a teacher.

"Nice to meet you."

"Now that you are introduced, I´ll must go," Igaram said, before getting back in the car. "Farewell for now, miss Nico."

"Okay. Thank you." The car drove away.

Her stomach growled.

"You´re hungry?" Shanks asked.

"Ehm... yeah."

"Good. Come." Without further speaking, he turned and started walking across the square, with his hands into the pockets of his long robe. Despite her long legs, she struggled to keep up with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The dining hall. It is right next to the lecture hall."

"Okay. About my luggage…"

"Oh, that´s right, I forgot. You should go to your room to drop it off." Shanks smiled again.

"Alright. So, could you show me the way there?"

"Yes. It´s rather large for the area. Hard to miss."

He was right. The apartment building was a two-store building, shaped like an E. Other, smaller buildings laid close by. Shanks walked to a door in the middle section of the E, tapped some numbers on the code lock, and opened the door once the lock clicked. Inside, a small woman sat in front of a desk. Upon seeing them, she stood up, smiled and bowed. "Welcome. N-nice to meet you. You must be Nico Robin."

"No ´hello´ to me, Tashigi?" Shanks said. The woman blushed.

"Shanks… S-sorry…" He laughed.

"I´m just teasing with you." He turned to Robin. "Tashigi will help you from now on." He waved goodbye, walking back out. "I´ll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you, Shanks." The door closed, and they´re were alone. The woman corrected her glasses, inhaled, and started digging among a pile of papers on the desk, while Robin examined the room. It was almost cavelike, with small space behind dark walls and the light coming from candles on the wall, as well as a lamp on the desk along with sunrays emanating through the edges of the door.

"Here it is!" Tashigi handed some papers to her. "This is some general information, given to all students. Rules, schedule, maps…"

"Thank you very much. Can you show me where my room is?"

"Of course. Em, I´ll give you the directions. Have to wait here for the oth… I mean, go through that door, turn right, turn right again into the second door… go up the stairs and turn left...the fourth room on the left is yours."

"Right, second right door, up, left, fourth left door. Got it. Thanks." Robin smiled at the woman, picked up her bag and went to her room.

Her room was small but nice and clean, almost like a hotel room. She dumped the papers by a window facing the desert, grabbed bath items from her bag and kicked it under her bed. She went into the bathroom to freshen herself up before dinner.

A few minutes later, she stepped out of the shower, tucked herself in the towel given to her and went out into the room. And froze.

Crap. There was a guy on her bed. He laid on his back, his arms tucked behind his head, and was obviously asleep. A white t-shirt and black sneakers were on the floor by the side of the bed.

With her mouth open in shock, she stepped back into the bathroom and closed the door. She looked around. There was nothing big or sharp enough there that could be used to drive him off. The best she thought of was pouring shampoo on his face.

Who the hell was he?

She glanced into the room again. Her clothes, along with all her other items, was still in the bag under the bed. Perfect.

She pressed the towel closer to her body, and started walking through the room. She got as far as to bend by the bed to draw the bag out, before he opened her eyes.

"Who are you?" He blinked, and looked her over. His face messed up, making him look almost like a figure in a comic book. "Wha… Why the hell are you naked? Are you a pervert?"

"I´m the pervert?! How dare you! Get out!"

"Hell no! This is my room! And I´m napping! You get out!"

"Your… How did you get here?"

"Left, and the second right door, and…" He was one of the other students, she realized. And she had started yelling at him without thinking. Double-crap.

"Oh. You got lost."

"Ahh no not again."

"It´s oka… Wait, get out now!" As he stood up, she shoved him against and out the door. Afterwards, she slammed the door shut. Looking around, she noticed his clothes were still on the floor. She grabbed them and a small bag that must be his in one hand, opened the door to the corridor again and saw him lean against the opposite wall.

"I almost forgot to give your clothes back.""Thank you, that´s nice of you." He smiled nervously at her, and took the clothes. "And thanks for, you know, borrowing your bed for a while." A laugh echoed through the corridor. Simultaneously, they both turned their heads toward the sound. Two boys stood staring at them, curiously and admusedly smiling, and one of them whistled twice. This couldn´t be true. She walked back in the room, once again slamming the door shut.

Her phone rang once, meaning she got a text. After getting dressed, she checked it. It was very short and direct.

_`Robin. Hancock is gone. I need your help. I´ll wait outside the castle /Nami.´_

**Brook**

The queue never seemed to cease. He had taken off the rings off his hand for this special occasion. His hand were itching, after signing people´s diaries, photos, albums. They were all eager to get his signature. His signature.

A woman with a camera in one hand and a little boy in the other appeared, saying: "It´s Jim´s birthday today. Could you please take a photo with him?"

"Of course I will then." The woman gestured the boy forward, and soon the image of the two of them standing and smiling was forever saved on the camera.

"Yohohoho, happy birthday!" he said as they walked off, the shy boy a little happier.

Next to appear was a younger woman wearing a hood. She silently hold a paper forward to him, her face a mere shadow under the hood. After he signed it, she quickly took it and left, soon disappearing in the crowd. Odd, he thought.

Later in the hotel, he got rid of his staff before taking the elevator up to his room. The unchored sound of grass hoppers echoed through the window and into the looming lobby. His VIP-room was already unlocked, meaning the waiter had recently brought him dinner. He sat down in front of a still smoking fish soup, eerily grabbing the spoon. A hard object hit the back of his head, and the plate of soup neared him. His face hit the plate perfectly, and the spicy soup stung him in the eyes. Then there was only darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

The 3rd chapter is finally out. It´s shorter than the others, and not very much happens, at least not at the Robin part (or does it?).

Thank you for the reviews! I was thinking about adding Law to the story. A few days ago I noticed an image on the tv, currently playing a swedish movie. A man was showing his tattoo to a woman. The tattoo was located on the upper arm, it was some symbol and the word DEATH written under it. So I decided to add Law.

Luffy will appear. Asap. He´s kinda important to this story.

All rights belong to Eichiro Oda

**Chapter 3. 2.22 **

**Robin**

"Nami." The girl at the bench by the brick wall lifted her head and looked around until she spotted Robin. "What´s´up?"

Nami shook her head. "I´m sorry for calling on you now, but I really couldn´t think of anything else to do."

"What do you mean?" She sat down beside her on the bench, and started eating the fruit she had bought on her way there.

"Hancock is missing. When I brought dinner for her, she wasn´t in our room. I waited for her, but she didn´t return. I don´t think she´s in the castle."

"Why?"

"She was acting so weird. I think something happened to her. I might have a clue about where she went." Nami bit her lip. "I couldn´t tell Vivi, or anyone else. I´m afraid she´ll get in trouble, if her guests act recklessly. And I´m sure you… I mean, we, can find her without no one´s help."

"Are you sure we should? She´s old enough to look after herself."

"Yeah. But she isn´t herself." Nami was silent for a few moments. "This is all awkward for me. But you lived here. You know the town…"

Robin gasped. "How did you know I lived here?"

Nami waved nonchalantly with her hand. "Unimportant. Will you help?"

"Sure. I don´t feel like going back there right now, anyway."

"Really? Thank you so much!"

"Thank me if we find her."

**Hancock**

She checked several times that the wire was tightly bound around his hands and feet before splashing water on him to wake him. His head rose, and he gazed around the room.

"Hey," she said, "I´m here." His eyes focused on her. They stared intently at each other in silence.

"May I see your panties?" the musician asked. She shot him an angry glance.

He tried to stand. "I´m stuck. Yohohohoho. You come to untie me, yes?"

"You´ll talk when spoken to."

"Eh? Why?"

"I only need you to tell me… who he is… the man at 2.22."

"2.22? Don´t know where that is."

"Fine, I´ll show you." She brought up her phone, and found the video. She hold the phone so both of them could watch it.

"You´re my fan?" he asked.

"Shut up." She paused the music video. "Look at the upper middle. There´s a man there. Who is he?" The man was standing close behind the singer. He had one hand placed on the top of his hat, and the other placed on Brook´s shoulder. He smiled happily towards the camera. His eyes sparkled, and Hancock felt a lump in her throat.

"Oh, just a cameo guy. Do you like my performance?"

"Tell me his name!"

"I don´t remember."

"I´ll dip your face in the soup again."

"I don´t think that´ll imrove my memory." They glared at each other. She sat down on another chair, putting her head in her hands and started sobbing.

"What´s wrong?" Brook asked.

"I´m sorry… I would really just like to know who he is…"

"I don´t think you do. You don´t know what kind of guy he is," Brook said, after a few moments hesitation.

"What do you mean?" Brook nodded towards his bag.

"There´s a paper in there. Have a look at it." She walked towards the bag, digged it through and brought up a paper. On it was a small and very simple drawing. Underneath it was two signatures.

"What is this?"

"Nothing special. But it was given to me by someone who´s close to the man you´re looking for. And since you´ve seen it, you should let me go. Or…" His eyed glittered. "… you´ll be in serious trouble."

"Threatening me, huh…" She waved her hair back. "You´re stupid. Just tell me his name!"

"Nope!" She grabbbed his hair and pulled his face down again.

**Robin**

People were leaving. Only a few groups had stayed behind on the concert ground. There were laughs, a smell of cigarr smoke and music playing everywhere around them, and the sun had almost disappeared.

Nami walked closely beside her.

"I don´t think we´ll find her," Robin said. They had searched the place for nearly half an hour.

"And I still can´t reach her on her phone." Nami slapped her hands against her forehead, and sighed. "Shit."

"Is there a problem?" A handsome, dark-haired guy walked up to them, looking at Nami.

"No, we´re just… looking for someone."

"Oh. A guy?" He smirked towards Robin. "If so, he sure is lucky." Robin kept her face serious, but still blushed.

"It´s a girl in fact. Our age, black-haired, beautiful. Have you seen her?" Nami asked.

"I have seen one, but she´s here already." The man gestured towards Robin, a beer in his hand. "Sorry for being to so little help. Can I at least offer you some refreshments?" He sluddered. He must´ve had more than one drink.

"No thank you." Nami grabbed Robin under her arm, and they began walking away. "We got to go. See you!"

"Good evening, girls!" the man shouted, and waved, sipping his beer at the same time. "And good luck!"

"What a hottie," Nami said once they were farther away, and close to the deserted area around the stage. "Maybe we can go and chat with him later, if we find Hancock."

"Kinda creepy. Drunkard. He´s surely past 20," Robin replied.

"I´m just saying he looked good. Damn, Robin, you need to stop being deadly serious and negative all the time. It´s boring, really." Robin pulled her arm free and started walking fast, getting away from her classmate.

"Hey, wait! I´m sorry. Wait, please!" Nami shouted. Robin stopped, and closed and opened her fists at her side.

"It´s fine. What do you plan on doing now?" A stage worker walked up to them before Nami could answer.

"The show is over. I have to ask you to leave." the woman said.

"Excuse us, but we´re looking for a friend. She might´ve been here. She has tall black hair, golden earrings…"

"I´m sorry, I can´t help you." The woman gestured towards them. "We have cleaning to do here. I´d be glad if you left."

Nami shrugged as they started walking away. "That´s it, I guess. There´s no way we´ll find her; you were right."

"She´s likely back already," Robin comforted the troubled Nami. "Let´s go back. I can follow you to the castle."

"Thank you. And, Robin?"

"What?"

"I hope you´re not mad by what I said. I was upset, I didn´t really mean it."

"It´s fine, as I´ve said. You shouldn´t apologize, you were not wrong, after all."

**Hancock**

She poured the remnants of the soup in the sink, and put the plate back on the tray. Before leaving the room, she wiped off the unconscious singer´s face and untied his hands.

She returned with the tray to the restaurant, left it at a table and took off quickly. She was so mad - this evening had been a disaster. She still had no name, and was currently out of ideas.

She found a bus that went back to the castle. After being let in, she texted to Nami: "Am back". Once she re-entered the room, Nami jumped off of her bed and walked to her.

"Oh my god, Hancock, where have you been? You´ve been gone for hours!"

"Had a look around this place. And…" Hancock held up a paper bag from McDonalds. "Bought dinner. You hungry?"

"No… and _I_ was supposed to bring _you _dinner. I´ve been looking for you, you know."

"You didn´t have to." Hancock sat down at the table, unpacked the food and started eating. Nami put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Whatever. I´m taking a shower." she said.

When she had gone, Hancock took the paper from her bag and had a second look at it. The drawing was that of an ordinary face, childishly drawn. From the signatures she couldn´t tell any name. She guessed one must be Brook´s though.

Being exhausted, she didn´t change clothes before going to bed. `I won´t give up,´ she thought before she fell asleep.

**Brook**

He remembered the phone number. Eight signals were heard before someone answered, saying a simple ´hello´. Brook´s hand shook a little.

"It´s Brook. I need to talk to you." "Yes, it is." "Wednesday?" "Yeah, that´ll do." "Alright, see you at the usual place." "Bye."

He sighed, leaned back, and looked out the window. The girl had gotten to him too easily. But things would soon be sorted out. He smiled, feeling both excited and sorry for the girl.

He lifted the phone again, and called for roomservice. With a concert and an assault, it had been a tough day. A bottle of champagné would suit him well.


	4. Chapter 4

Fourth chapter (yay!): Robin visits her old streets, Hancock makes a promise. The remaining six students are named, and Tashigi gets a pov.

Again, thank you for the reviews! :)

One Piece belongs to Eichiro Oda. All literature and other media mentioned belong to the original author/company.

**Vivi´s anger!**

**Robin**

The first lesson wasn´t until tomorrow, so she put on a more relaxed pair of clothing - saggy pants and a purple hood jacket - before going to have breakfast. She met no one during her way to the dining hall, but she heard voices as she neared it.

The dining hall was a single building, consisting of a small kitchen as well. It only held two tables; at one of them, three people sat. Among them was the boys who she´d spotted yesterday. She went to a desk consisting of a buffet with few dishes. She then sat down at the empty table, enjoying her pancakes with syrup alone.

Another person entered the room. She immediately recognized the short green hair and the stern serious face - the weird guy from yesterday. He collected bread and butter, poured himself some coffee, and went straight towards her table. He sat down opposite her, and started eating in silence. She herself had stopped eating, her mouth half-open in shock. The people at the other table had turned their heads to look at them.

She leaned forward over the table. "Don´t sit here!" she urged him silently. He shot her a glance.

"I sit wherever I want. Got a problem with that?"

"Yes! The others think that we… you know…"

"What?" He seemed completely unaware of what she meant. She shrugged.

"Never mind." They ate in silence, while the other three students chatted merrily.

Accidentally, they finished their meals at the same time. They walked over to the desk to turn in their dishes. Still without saying anything, they started heading back to the dormitory together.

"I´m Robin," she said after a while.

"Zoro." Their quiet walk continued. Robin, who often preferred silence, began feeling awkward.

"Here we are," she said, as they stood in front of the dormitory.

"What´s here?" he asked.

"Our rooms."

"Oh." She pressed the entry code and Zoro opened the door for her before entering himself. The secretary wasn´t there.

"Do you know where to go now?" she asked him.

He looked at her, annoyed. "I´m not stupid."

"I didn´t say you´re stupid." Robin replied. Definitely stupid, she thought. How the hell did he get into this place? She smiled slightly at him.

He gasped. "I´m going to my room to take a…"

"…nap," she finished for him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly," he said, and began strolling to the right.

"It´s the wrong direction," she said. He stopped, turned to her, and smiled.

"I´m not stupid," he repeated, and started walking to the left. She chuckled.

"See you," she said to his back. He raised a hand as goodbye.

**Hancock**

"Hancock? Hey, Hancock!" She slowly opened her eyes, and saw a dark figure standing above her.

"What?" she mumbled. Nami spoke again.

"It´s 9.30. I´m going for breakfast soon, you wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure." She rubbed her eyes.

Five minutes later, she´d gotten dressed, brushed her hair and put on make up. Nami sat on her bed, texting on her phone. Someone knocked on the door. Vivi entered as Nami opened.

"Good morning," she greeted them both.

"Good morning, Vivi," Nami said.

"Your majesty," Hancock said. Vivi shot an annoyed glance at her, then smiled.

"You up for breakfast?"

"Am starving," Nami said.

"Let´s go, then."

Vivi led them to a small dining room, with a table holding only about eight people. As soon as they sat down, a couple of servants came out of the kitchen, bringing food and porcelain. Hancock scooped porridge into her bowl.

"Do you have any plans for today, Vivi?" Nami asked.

"Since it´s Sunday, I really don´t."

"Even royalty have days off?" Hancock asked. Vivi shrugged.

"Princesses do. Occasionally." She tasted her soup. "I thought we could go shopping. There´s a larger city, with malls and such, a few miles west of here."

"That sounds great," Nami said. "Hancock?"

She nodded. "I agree."

"Perfect. I´ll fix transport."

They all finished eating quickly. Vivi asked to talk to Nami in private, and Hancock went back to their room alone. As Nami reappeared, she seemed slightly upset.

"She knows we went out yesterday?" Hancock asked. Nami just nodded, and disappeared into the bathroom. While waiting, Hancock pulled her hair back into a pony tail and checked her make up.

Vivi appeared about 15 minutes later. She was wearing an elegant, beige robe, reaching all the way down to her ankles. Nami emerged out of the bathroom, dressed into a small, orange and patterned dress, matching her hair and her orange high heels.

Hancock looked at them through the fullbody-sized mirror on one of the walls. She was wearing a simple tshirt and comfortable cotton pants. In looks, she far by outshined both of them.

"A bus takes off in a few minutes," Vivi said.

"We´ll get a whole bus?" Nami asked, confused.

"No! That´d be like killing the environment." Vivi smiled. "We´re traveling on a regular tourist bus."

**Robin**

She panted heavily as she was back at the dormitory. Running was harder in the heat, and she had managed shorter time than usual. She performed some stretching before showering. Then she got dressed and went for a walk.

Lunch would not be served at weekends, unless it had been asked for in advance. So she needed to find a place to eat. She thought about asking Zoro to accompany her, then shredded that thought to bits. This was NOT like her. It´d probably just been too long since she spent much time with someone with an Y-chromosome. He would probably laugh at her for asking, anyways.

A mild, well-welcomed breeze brushed her hair back. She looked up, and saw that thin white clouds had appeared. She checked her phone as she strolled across the street. Nami had texted her, saying that Hancock was back and safe.

There was disturbingly many Western-themed restaurants around - selling mostly pizza and hamburgers. She finally gave up and settled with Mcdonalds. The restaurant was crowded. After ordering her food, she asked to have a seat at a table with three pre-teenage girls. They hummed, not paying her much attention.

She ate without speaking, listening to the girls´ discussing typical girly topics, as boys, latest fashions, this and that singer, boys, a newly released romantic comedy they definitely had to see, funny gossip, boys...

"Excuse me," she said after a while. "I need your help with something. Can you tell me if there´s a library nearby?" The girls stared confusedly at her, until one of them got a hold of herself and shook her head.

"No," she mumbled. "We don´t know. Sorry." The two other girls started giggling.

"Alright. Thank you, anyways." The giggling increased in volume as she took her tray and left.

Despite her sore legs, she continued to walk further away from the school ground. She recognized most buildings, but there were some new shops and built houses that she hadn´t seen before. She stopped in front of an orphanage.

She looked at it silently. The house couldn´t be older than eight or nine years, she thought. Despite the difference, it seemed very much the same to her. Children playing in front of it, their shoes faded in color. A woman dusting off maps on a balcon. Another woman brushing the ground in front, strictly yelling at children getting in her way. Luggage from a wagon was being carried into the house.

It was a miserable and delightful sight, children and adults alike enjoying themselves even though being poor. Just like that time.

The woman with the brush suddenly stood in front of her. "Hey, haven´t I seen you before?" Robin shook her head, indicating she had no idea what she meant. The woman looked at her suspiciously, then went back to work.

Robin turned away. The laughter of the children diminished slowly as she went back the same way she´d come. Deep in thoughts, she didn´t notice she was being watched.

**Tashigi**

"Ohh, haven´t I looked up at the sky every evening without knowing the shiniest star of all was down on earth! How I wish I could show my eternal gratitude of love, although I have merely talents worthy of offering a cute woman such as yourself a sweet creation that should have been brought down from heaven."

Tashigi looked up. "Good morning, Sanji. Did you bring me moon cake again?"

The blonde guy placed the small plate in front of her. "You´re welcome, my lady."

She tasted it. "This is great. Thank you."

"Ahhh, she liked it!" He happily swayed away.

She returned to her book, but only read a few sentences before some others passed through the hall.

"Hi, Tashigi!" A short boy with brown hair carrying a small bag and a blonde girl dressed in a green pastel dress greeted her. She smiled at them.

"Chopper, Kaya, good morning. Going to your first lesson?"

"Yes," Kaya said.

"What are you reading?" Chopper asked. She showed them the front page of the book.

"A wuxia. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon."

"Oh. Is it good?"

"It´s alright," she answered.

"Okay. See you later!"

She wished them good luck, and concentrated once again on the hopeless love story between a beautiful noble daughter, as well as sword-stealing martial artist, and a bandit. Zoro passed by; he greeted her but was gone within seconds. Afterwards were another couple; a short, pink-haired boy with glasses and a rather selfish boy with a pot-like haircut.

"What´s that book?" the one with the pot-hair, Helmeppo, asked.

"A wuxia novel. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon."

"They made a movie of it, right?" the other boy, Coby, asked.

"Yes. It won a few Oscars." Tashigi checked her watch. "You better hurry." They did, to her relief.

Robin came last. She was dressed in something similar to an english school uniform. She seemed sadder, or more tense, than before.

"Everything okay?" Tashigi asked.

"Yeah." She stopped by the door. "Did Zoro come by?"

"Yes."

"Was he alone?"

"Ehrm, yes. Why?" Robin sighed.

"Someone probably have to look for him," she said. "He could be lost." Tashigi instantly put away her book.

"I´ll go."

**Hancock**

"Hey!" Nami knocked heavily on the bathroom door. "What are you doing? You´ve been in there for almost an hour!"

Hancock sobbed one last time, and stood up. She splashed some water into her face, to hide that she had been crying. Then she quickly pulled the door open. Nami stumbled backwards, taken by surprise. Hancock stormed past her, ignoring her.

"Hancock, what are…"

"I took a bath. Now, I´m taking a walk. And I´m tired of your whining." She slammed the door shut behind her.

She didn´t think much on where she went, but soon found herself on a pavilion outside. A cat, similar to the one she´d seen before, walked up to her.

"Get away!" she growled to it. It looked at her, beggingly. She hit it with her foot, and it jumped aside, hissed angrily and ran.

"Hancock?" A voice called out. She turned around to see Vivi, along with a group of people. "What are you doing? Did you just kick that cat?!"

"Hmph." She leaned with her elbow against a wall, pushed her chest forward, and bent her head back. "I´m just… taking… a walk," she said, as she took the pose. Many gasped.

"She´s so beautiful," a woman said.

"She looks like a queen… eh, sorry, Vivi," one of the men said.

"Do you know her, princess?"

Vivi stared at her, calm except for the fire raging in her eyes. "Everyone is dismissed!" she said. "The meeting is postponed 30 minutes."

"But… the king is waiting…"

"Didn´t you hear what I said!?" The people shared confused looks, then they started to walk away. Once they were all gone, Vivi slowly went towards Hancock.

"I´ve been tolerating," she murmured. "It´s only been a couple of days. But I´m starting to lose my temper with you."

The princess stood about an arm´s length from her, staring back at her. They didn´t move nor speak, but were silently competing. Vivi had the most authority.

Hancock sighed, lowered her head, and turned around. "Fine. I´m sorry. I won´t kick a cat again. Happy?"

"Slightly." Vivi took a deep breath. "Don´t attract anyone important. Don´t run off without telling where you´re going. And don´t call me ´your majesty´."

"Okay, Vivi. This is your home. I´m your guest. I´ll behave."

"Good."

Only when I´m in the castle, she thought. Idiot.


	5. Chapter 5

This has been one of the toughest chapters to write so far. After some time spent writing, I kinda stopped caring, and it seems like the story wrote itself. A lot of Robin pov here, bear with it. Robin is more impulsive this chapter than in the manga, I think.

Reviews inspired me to update soon. Thank you! If you could tell me your opinion on the rating of this story, I´d be very happy.

All rights belong to Eichiro Oda.

Some time have passed since end of fourth chapter. This chapter: Hancock gets a "brilliant" idea. Robin sees a ghost. While one thing leads to another, Hancock is closer than ever to that special someone.

**Fateful encounter**

**Robin**

"Come in!" she shouted. The door to her room opened, and a boy walked in. She turned around on her chair, smiling towards him. "Good day, Chopper."

About a week had passed since the beginning of the course, and she and Chopper had already created a habit. Every afternoon, one of them would visit the other to study together.

Chopper was friendly, and about as smart and honest as her. They got along quite well.

"Hi, Robin." He sat down opposite her, placing his materials on the desk. She rose to get another water bottle from the fridge.

"What subject do you want to work with today?" she asked, since it was his turn to choose. He sighed.

"Math. It´s about time."

"It doesn´t sound like you like it very much."

"Nah." He opened the math book. "Geometrics are boring."

The time flew by. Despite Chopper´s disinterest, he turned to be as brilliant as usual and often found solutions to exercises before she did.

"Well done," she praised him afterwards. He blushed.

"I´m not happy by hearing that!" he said, being very happy indeed. She giggled.

"See you, Chopper." She closed the door.

Occasional strolls were also a part of her routine by now. After dinner, she took off. She met Sanji, who stood outside the dormitory, smoking. As some of the other students, he wasn´t fairly close to normal. He greeted her with his usual love blabbering, which she ignored.

"See you, Sanji."

"Oi, where are you going?" he asked.

"Just taking a walk."

"It´s late. You shouldn´t go alone."

"What are you talking about? I do this every evening."

"Whaaat?" He started walking beside her. She sighed; telling him to go away would probably hurt his feelings or something. Not that she cared though.

The stars in the night sky was hidden by dark clouds. They crossed the square, venturing into a street mainly meant for shopping. The small shops were closed for the day; the sellers were instead trying to lure tourists to their stalls outside. Robin waited while Sanji stopped to inspect a stall selling oriental spices in jars.

"I´d like to try some of these," he murmured. The owner walked up to him, excitedly talking about some of the spices. Sanji turned around to look at her, and noticed her waiting. "Maybe later," he said, waving the man off, and they continued walking.

"I saw you in the kitchen earlier," she said. He shrugged.

"I do work there sometimes. My father said I should practice my cooking." He looked at her expectantly. "Do you like my food, Robin-chan?"

"It´s good," she admitted. "Your father owns a restaurant, right?"

"Yes. Baratie. It´s considered one of the top 100 in the world. I work there, too."

"That´s impressive."

"Aaaahh, Robin-chan likes me!" he said, taking her credit wrong.

They turned around a corner, into a similar street but with less people. Sanji took her arm and steered her to a stall selling cheap jewellery.

"Have a look at these," he said. He suddenly seemed more serious. Wondering, she glanced at some bracelets. An old woman sat at the other side of the stall, staring at them.

"What is it, Sanji?" He didn´t reply.

"Let´s go back," he said, after a few minutes. He laid an arm around her shoulder and started leading her back the way they´d come. She shook him off.

"What is wrong? Tell me!"

"We´re being followed."

"What?" She glanced around; no one seemed to take much notice of them. Then she spotted someone on the other side of the street. She shivered, suddenly feeling cold.

"Sanji, go ahead," she whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I need to be alone. Go back to the school; I´ll come later."

"Hell no." She looked back at the person, who now raised a finger, patted lightly against the left wrist, and pointed at the ground below. _Be here in one hour_, she thought. She turned to Sanji.

"You´re right, we should go back."

"Eh…," he said, and hurried to catch up with her since she´d began walking. "What is going on?"

"Nothing. I´m just tired."

**Hancock**

For the billionth time, she looked at the paper; her only clue. She´d been pondering about it for days. Knowing what the drawing meant, as well as finding out who the signatures belonged to, would perhaps help. She hadn´t dared to visit Brook again; he was surely more well-guarded than before. The artist wasn´t in the town anymore, anyways.

She had followed Nami and Vivi on most of their daily trips. As much as she could, she enjoyed eating and spending time with them, along with some of Vivi´s friends in the capital. But there was still that longing inside of her.

She missed home, too. Her sisters. Some people in her class. Her friends. She laid down on her bed, eyes closed, and drifted away in thoughts. Images soon popped up: her sisters greeting her welcome home after school, Perona with her stupid phone, her grandmother yelling at her to clean her room, and how there was never complete silence in the classroom.

An idea hit her. There was only one, who always seemed to have the answer to everything. Robin. And she wasn´t far away.

Hancock jumped up. She grabbed her bag and started walking away fast, on the way texting both Vivi and Nami, who were out, saying she was going to buy hygienes.

Not having her phone number, she headed for the place where Robin took that clever kid course. She didn´t have to go all the way; she spotted Robin crossing the square outside of it. She walked past Hancock; despite the distance between them being no more than five metres, she didn´t notice her. Hancock felt a sudden bolt of joy. The brilliant perfect girl were up to something. She couldn´t miss a chance like this. She silently followed her classmate, with her hand in her bag, prepared to use her phone´s camera.

**Robin**

She had seen many horror movies without ever getting a goose bump. She had never checked for monsters under her bed. Stories about haunted houses and mediums only made her laugh out loud. She had never imagined she´d see a ghost for real, until she did.

Sure, the ghost was older than she remembered it as alive. Taller. Wearing different clothes. It talked to her. It recognized her. Other people could see it, as well. But it´s horrible scars just couldn´t belong to an ordinary human.

"Robin, do you hear me?" The ghost said. Of course, it knew her name. It was _him_, after all. Of course, he knew her name. She promptly decided to answer it.

"Yes." She must be mad, talking to a ghost.

"Should we get going, then? To the cafe?" In her mind, the voice of the ghost echoed eerily, as if they were talking in a cave. It began to move, and she followed.

She noticed it didn´t float above the ground, rather it walked humanly. Either all the movie ghosts were false stereotypes, or this one just preferred to stand out in the crowd.

The next she remembered, they sat at a table in the corner of a cafe. There was a cup of coffee in front of her, as well as in front of the ghost on the other chair. As it lifted it´s cup to drink, she imitated it´s moves, sipping the coffee at exactly the same time.

The dark liquid didn´t run straight through the ghost, as she had expected, but disappeared into it´s mouth. The coffee burned her tongue, making her snap out of the shock and back into reality. She coughed, waving with her hand trying to smooth the pain. A glass of water was hold out to her, and she thankfully took it.

"Don´t you know how to drink coffee?" She didn´t reply, only clutching the glass hard in her hands and staring down at the table. Her black fringe hid her eyes.

"Isn´t this a joke?" she mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She shifted in the chair, took a deep breath, and raised her eyes, taking in the sight of the man in front of her. Burn scars were visible on his massive arms, and a few on parts of his head. But she still recognized his blue, unruly hair and his face. "You´re alive, after all. Cutty Flam," she said finally.

"I don´t use that name anymore. Call me Franky." She leaned back.

"This is the last time we meet. I don´t care what your name is." He hit the table with his fist.

"Don´t act like that!" Other guests turned around to look at them. He softened. "You always thought you´re better than me."

"That isn´t true!" He waved her protests away.

"It doesnt matter what you think. You always were." He gestured towards her, smiling. "You´ve been doing well for yourself." She eyed him suspiciously.

"I´m going now." She stood up, and so did he.

"Wait, please. I wanted to tell you that I… I am not the same, either. I´ve changed. And I´m not just talking about the scars. If you could give me only a little time, only this evening, I´ll show you. Then, if you still want to, you can tell me to piss off forever." She studied him. Something inside her melted. She nodded.

"Okay."

He smiled. "Super. Let´s go."

**Hancock**

Robin and the scary-looking man left the cafe, and she followed. They spoke quietly with each other; Hancock would have cut a third of her hair off to know what they were saying.

The stroll was long. Hancock succeeded to avoid being spotted, hiding behind corners, while also memorizing the way. The buildings here were dark and slim, and there were many dim places to eat. She saw them going into a bar; very Robin-unlike to take a drink, she thought. But of course, the girl was sorta weird.

She waited outside, instead of going in as she had done at the coffee shop. She stood in an alley on the opposite side of the street, overlooking the entrance to the bar without being spotted. She hadn´t waited for long, when someone tapped on her shoulder. She squealed, and turned around. A lousy dressed, muscular guy with an orange hat, his face mostly hidden in the dark, stood in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" he bluntly asked.

"Err, I, umm… It´s none of your business."

"You were stalking my friend. It is my business." He stepped closer to her. She backed away, her back now against the wall. Now she could see his eyes, and was suddenly very afraid. She squealed again.

"No, I´m only lost." He didn´t believe her. "Please, don´t hurt me."

"Get lost," he told her. She was about to obey him, but something nagged on her attention. She looked at him more closely, and suddenly gasped, as she recognized him. She had seen him, while looking at behind the scenes of making of Brook´s music video. He had been talking to HIM, the boy she was looking for. Her heart beat faster in her chest.

Feeling strong all of a sudden, she grabbed his collar and turned him around, pressing him against the wall. He was shocked.

"Now you listen to me, you loser. Take me to him, or I´ll make sure you´ll never walk properly again."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" She reached one hand down between his legs, grabbed and pulled, making him groan. "Shit…" He feebly tried to push her away, but stopped once she squeezed harder. She put one hand over his mouth, as he groaned again.

"Don´t scream. Promise to take me to where your friend is, and I´ll stop." He nodded, his face full of pain. She let go and backed away, and he bent over, cursing silently. She kicked at his ankle. "Get going. I don´t have all day."

He remained where he was, his breathing returning to normal. He looked up at her, and smirked, a fire raging in his eyes. "You shouldn´t have let go."

**Robin**

Cutty Flam led her through the bar, and to a hidden door on the floor in a corner, with a stair under it, leading down to a cellar. She hesitated before going down. It seemed too much like a trap.

He stopped when he noticed she wasn´t following. "It´s okay" he called from below her. "You don´t have to do this if you don´t want to."

"I rather stay here," she said. He nodded.

"I´ll be right back." He walked down the last steps and was gone. The bartender, the only one in the room except her, gestured to her to sit at a chair, waiting. He was gone for quite a while. She yawned. She still had to get up early tomorrow for the social science class with Shanks.

The door opened. An annoyed-looking guy walked in, holding a girl´s hair, dragging her after him.

"Ouch!" the girl, who was bleeding, moaned. Robin quickly stood up and rushed to the guy, hitting his face. He avoided her second blow, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her arm behind her back with a single movement. He was too fast, and she wasn´t strong enough to break free. Dammit.

The bartender shouted, and Flam soon reappeared. Robin shot a glance at Hancock, who was now lying helplessly on the floor, only shock holding back her tears. Robin felt close to panicking herself.

"Ace! Let go!" Flam shouted.

"Shut up!" the guy holding her arm retorted, his tone suggesting he was even more annoyed now. Flam walked over to them, reached around her to grab the man´s arm, and did something with it so he released her. She spun around and backed away, holding her fists protectively in front of her.

"Why are you bringing these crazy girls here, Franky?" the man said, rubbing his wrist.

"The only one who´s crazy are you, attacking them!" he replied. The man threateningly approached him, but Flam punched him in his chest, making him stumble backwards to the desk. He rolled over it, almost hitting the poor bartender, and landed on the floor. He soon stood up, unhurt, picked up his hat and brushed it off.

"Watch out, Franky. You owe me one." He put the hat back on, and went to the passageway down, glancing at them all one last time before descending.

Robin kneeled beside Hancock. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yes," she mumbled, and sat up.

"Do you know her, Robin?" Flam asked.

"Yes. She´s my classmate. What are you doing here, Hancock? Did you follow me"

"Yes. I…" she glanced at Flam. "I´m looking for someone."

Flam snorted. "You´ve surely gotten to the wrong place, then, girl."

She shook her head, and started digging through her bag. "I… I was gonna show you this, Robin." She hold up a paper. Flam took it before her. As he looked at it, his face darkened.

Before Robin could ask what the hell was going on, the door opened again. Two boys, about as old as her and Hancock, stepped in. One of them was blonde, wearing elegant purple clothes and a purple cylinder hat. The other wore a simple vest and shorts and sandals, as well as a strawhat.

"Hey, Franky!" the one with the strawhat said.

She saw Flam smile. "Luffy. Sabo. Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be here, guarding!"

The boy with the strawhat tilted his head to the side. "I was hungry. We went to a restaurant." He carried a large, well-filled sack over his shoulder. Without so much at looking at her or Hancock, he walked over to the desk, tilting the sack on it. "Makino, cook this meat for me!" He opened the sack, and it did indeed contain a lot of steaks.

"Didn´t you just eat at a restaurant?" Flam asked.

"Their meat was wrong."

"What was wrong with it then?" Flam asked patiently. The strawhat boy looked at him, silent for a few moments.

"I don´t remember."

The blonde boy laughed. "He ate four platefuls," he said.

"Eh?! Sabo, that was s´posed to be a secret!" the boy shouted. The blonde laughed again.

Flam moaned. "You´ll make us bankrupt, Luffy." Although saying this, he was smiling.

"Oh, by the way, is Ace here?" the boy, who must be Luffy, asked.

"Downstairs," Flam said, and Luffy jumped up and rushed down the stairs, soon gone. The blonde walked after him.

Robin patted Flam´s arm. "Who are all these people?" she asked.

"Ah, they´re my companions," he said.

"Companions?"

"Yeah, we work together." Before she asked what exactly they were working with, she was interrupted again, this time because Hancock yelled. Robin turned to her, and saw her sitting with her face pressed against her palms.

"What´s wrong?" Robin asked. All this ruckus was giving her a headache.

"He didn´t see me," Hancock sobbed.

Wait, what?

"That´s right. You´d be wasting your time with him," Flam said. Hancock shook her head in disbelief.

Ace and Luffy reappeared, after hearing the yelling.

"Did you shout for me, Makino?" Luffy asked. "My meat is ready, right?" The bar keeper, busy with her cooking, shook her head.

"Sorry, not yet."

"She´s not the only female here, Luffy." Ace turned him around so his face was directed towards them.

"Eh? Who´re they?"

"Ask Franky."

Cutty Flam looked around. "Someone go get Sabo. I´ll explain to everyone."


	6. Chapter 6

I constructed a Hancock background in this chapter, hopefully it isn´t too out of line. At least I felt bad for her, though. It´s so hard to write emotions! Reading through the story, I noticed a lot of errors in the writing... sorry for that. I´m new at this. I´ll hopefully improve.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this story, please keep that up ~:). I´ll post next chapter, "hero", asap.

All rights belong to Eichiro Oda.

**Hancock´s sorrow**

**Hancock**

The bar was closed. The bartender, Makino, had gone home, and the rest of them were sitting on benches by the largest table. Hancock sat silent, while the ugly, scarred man talked. He wasn´t the one she was looking at, though.

"I´m Robin," Robin said, and the others introduced themselves also.

"Sabo."

"Franky."

"Ace."

The strawhat boy didn´t say anything, and neither did she. He was busy eating. Ace hit him in the head.

"Pay some attention!"

"That´s cruel! He´s eating!" Hancock said, standing up while defending him. Everyone stared at her. Robin pulled her arm, making her sit down again.

Franky sighed. "Let´s do this quick." He put the paper on the table. Ace and Sabo gasped.

"Who brought this?" Sabo asked.

"She," Franky said, pointing straight at her. "She was the one "visiting" Brook."

"Oh." Luffy stopped eating. She gasped and started blushing, as he walked over to her. "You…"

"Yes?" she said, expectant.

"Did you hurt Brook? Did you hurt my friend?" Half his face were hidden under his straw hat. She wished he would take it off.

"I will be honest to you. I did. But it was all so that I could…"

He pulled one of his arms back. "I won´t forgive you." Sabo rose and grabbed his arm.

"Calm down, Luffy," he said. Luffy sat down again, with a great effort.

"Are you talking about the musician Brook?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Franky said. "We owe him a favor, after him letting Luffy appear in one of his music videos."

"Look where that got us," Ace mumbled.

Before anyone could speak any further, Hancock rose and went over to where Luffy sat. She stood before him one second, before falling to her knees, leaning against the floor.

"I´m Boa Hancock. Please, Luffy, forgive me,; I´ll do anything." She raised her head to look up at him. He had gone back to eating, and glanced down at her.

"Huh? Why? I don´t like you," he said. She inhaled sharply. She was flabbergasted; how was this possible? Could it be that this one man didn´t adore her? Looking at him, there was no doubt he was telling the truth. An ache grew in her heart.

All she´d wanted was to see him smile.

She fled outside, not wanting him to see her crying.

`_I dont like you.´. _She sobbed, leaning against a wall. After a while, she heard Robin talking from behind her.

"Hancock, listen to me. There´s no use staying here; I think it´s best we both leave now," she said.

What is left to do? she thought. Things couldn´t possibly get worse. She turned around, nodding towards Robin.

"Let´s go," she said. As Robin began walking, she also slipped a piece of paper into her pocket.

Strangers threw odd, sometimes concerned, glances at her, but she ignored them. The walk back was torture. She just wanted to sleep, even if it meant having another nightmare.

_One year ago_

_**Nyon (Hancock´s grandmother)**_

_The teacher bit her lip, unsure what to say. Nyon waited, calm and patient._

"_First I´d like to say, I can´t explain how truly sorry I am about all of this. Second, I´d like to tell you that the situation have been dealt with, in the best way possible."_

"_What does that mean?" she asked._

"_Every teacher is informed, but not the students. We´ve contacted a youth care center. A psychologist used to this kind of… matters… will be in touch with you soon. Your granddaughter is allowed to retreat from school work this remaining week of the year. Of course, whether or not she will be ready to return by the autumn is not relevant at all, right now."_

"_We won´t discuss that at all. Hancock will transfer to another school." _

"_I fully understand." _

"_What will happen to the boy?" Nyon asked._

"_He has already gotten expelled. He will go to court."_

_He better do, Nyon thought. When Hancock broke, telling her what this scum to classmate had done to her, she had for one moment wished he´d suffer in all ways possible. _

_She rose. "You don´t have to do anymore," she said. "I would rather control what happens from now on, myself."_

"_Of course." The teacher seemed relieved to get this off her table. _

Present time

**Robin**

Something bounced against the back of her head, and she slowly turned around. It was Helmeppo, now grinning, who had thrown the eraser at her. Different classroom, same annoyments.

"Is there any problem?" she asked politely.

"Nope, just waking you up," he said. She looked at him coldly and turned forward again.

He was right, though. She had been drifting off a lot during lessons lately.

The physical science teacher, Buggy, spoke. "Everyone, the class is over. Until next time, remember what you´ve learned. We´ll continue to look at different types of forces." He left, and the students visibly relaxed.

"Why do he always take off quickly like that?" Chopper asked.

"Tashigi says he works with some project when not teaching," Zoro grunted.

"Ehhh? You spoke with Tashigi?!" Sanji bursted. Everyone ignored him.

Kaya touched her arm. "Is everything okay, Robin?" She smiled reassuringly at the blonde, pale girl.

"I´m fine; don´t worry about me."

"Oh… okay."

Coby spoke up, to everyone´s surprise. "Hey, it´s been a couple of weeks now… Do you think all of us should go do something fun, together?" Everyone considered.

"Nah. I´m taking a nap," Zoro said.

"I feel a bit tired, too," Kaya said. "Maybe some other time."

"I´ll be working today," Sanji said. "But, I´d rather go out with Robin-chan! I´m so unlucky."

"Me neither, Coby," Robin said. "Sorry." She went out, but soon noticed Chopper following her.

"What´s up?" she asked.

"I heard of a cafe, popular among academics. It´s not too far away. How about, instead of studying here, we go there?"

She smiled. "That´s a great idea, Chopper."

**Hancock**

Nami stepped in front of her. "You´ve been in here for almost a week, doing nothing!"

Hancock leaned to the left, trying to increase volume on the TV. Nami snapped the remote control out of her hand.

"Do you hear me?" Hancock looked at her emotionlessly.

"I like the programmes here," she said. Nami threw her arms about.

"This is hopeless," she said to no one in particular. "I´m leaving."

Hancock laid down, not answering. Nami snorted loudly and went out the door.

_8 months ago_

_**Hancock**_

_Nyon had managed for her to get into the same high school her sisters would go first year. The school was Amazon High - a girl school._

_Now it was friday, and two months of the term have passed. Hancock was having lunch with Vivi. Nami and Perona showed up, talking excitedly. _

"_What´s up?" Vivi asked._

"_Nami has some news." Perona said._

_Nami blushed, as they sat down. _

"_As you all know, except for you, Hancock," Perona declared, "our own amazing Nami has stayed with her boyfriend for a year now! And of course, we´re gonna celebrate!"_

"_`We´? Nami, do you and your boyfriend want to celebrate including all of us?" Vivi asked. Nami nodded._

"_Yes. There is a special occasion."_

"_What?"_

_Nami looked down at the table, hesitating. "There is a new bar opening. He knows some people, and we might be able to go to the initiation on sunday." Vivi and Hancock stared at her, equally shocked._

"_No!" Vivi said. "No way. I can´t go. Do you know what my dad would say?"_

"_Oh, come on, Vivi," Perona said. "There´ll be a maximum of 30 people there. There´s no way your father will hear about it. Just tell your aunt Nami´s having a sleepover." Vivi shook her head._

_After a time of persuasion, they all agreed to go._

Present time

**Robin**

Chopper was almost jumping up and down, out of excitement. "I like this place!" She chuckled.

The large cafe was located at a college area, close to the beach. Round tables were located all over the floor. About half of the tables were taken; Robin guessed it was crowded only during regular school time.

They went to the desk to order something to eat. She satisfied with a cheap sandwich and water.

As they got to a table, they picked up their school books, similar to what many of the college students had done.

"I feel smarter, just by being here," Chopper said.

"You´ll surely go to college someday," Robin said. He smiled.

"That´s my dream. To become a doctor."

They began with the problem at hand: constructing a short comparative analysis of literaly features between different epochs.

After a while, a waitress walked up to them, carrying two mugs.

"We didn´t order anything," Robin said, as she put the mugs, each consisting milkshake, on the table.

"It´s from him over there," she said. Robin looked to where she pointed, and gasped. It was the drunk man she and Nami had met on the first day there, sitting with a group of friends. He smirked towards her, lifting one hand to greet her. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the waitress.

"We don´t…" Chopper had already began drinking it. "I mean, I don´t want it. Take it away, please," she said.

"Are you sure, Robin? It´s strawberry! It´s great!" Chopper said.

"Take it," she repeated. In the corner of her eye, Robin saw the waitress returning it to the table where the man sat. She also saw him rising.

"Let´s go, Chopper," she said, starting to pack away her things.

"But…"

"You can drink it on the way." Chopper began packing as well, but it was too late. The man stood beside the table, hovering above them.

"Hello," he said. Robin froze, staring down at her feet.

"Hi, mister," Chopper said. "Did you buy these for us?"

"Yep." He firmly put the milkshake in front of her. "I thought I still owed you a drink."

She glared up at him. "You´re mistaken."

"Well, it´s yours, nonetheless. Consider it a friendly gesture." She rolled her eyes again, and continued packing her things. When she looked up, she saw that the man sat beside Chopper, looking at his book. He really wasn´t giving up.

"Literature history," he said. "Isn´t that kinda useless?"

She crossed her arms in front of her. "No matter what, knowledge is never useless," she retorted. He studied her. Still calm, curiousity was apparent in his grey eyes.

"You got a point," he said.

"Do you know him, Robin?" Chopper asked. Oh, no.

"So, your name is Robin," the man said. Chopper looked on him and her and him again.

"I shouldn´t have said that," he mumbled.

"It´s fine. Are you ready to go?" She stood up. Chopper nodded, hastily putting away his remaining things.

"You´re leaving? Seriously?" the man asked. She ignored him. "Well, alright then. At least take this drink with you. I´d hate to throw it away." She snapped the drink from the table, but didn´t bother with a goodbye as they went. One thing was certain: she wasn´t visiting that cafe again.

_8 months ago_

_**Hancock**_

_Nami´s boyfriend, the one year older Arlong, picked them up by her house. Hancock immediately disliked him. He was driving a red, scruffy Mercedes and seemed to like bragging above all. He had his arm around Nami a lot, even though he was driving._

_The guard waved for them to pass, without checking their ids, as Arlong had promised. The bar was loud, with way more than 20 people inside. Someone Arlong knew showed up, bringing beer with him. Arlong took the glass, tasted it, and offered everyone to do the same. He snorted when Nami didn´t want any. Perona was the only one who tasted it. Seeing everyone´s looks, she defended herself._

"_Did you know how many countries exist where drinking from 16 is allowed?" Arlong laughed._

"_She knows how to have a good time," he said approvingly. They managed to get a table._

"_I´m going to buy some snacks, you want something?" Perona asked. Arlong suggested they share a plate of french fries._

"_So what´s your first impression of this place?" Nami asked, when Perona had returned. Hancock hadn´t been to enough bars to make any judgment._

"_It´s okay, I guess," Vivi said._

"_It´s all about the people," Arlong said. He looked intently at Hancock, while saying that. She felt like throwing up. _

_Nami didn´t notice, though. She sat clutching his arm, leaning against his shoulder. "Can you tell everyone of when we first met?" she asked him._

"_No. I´d like to dance, now."_

"_Oh, okay." The couple went to the dance floor._

"_I feel tired," Vivi said. "I´ve seen this place, now I´m going home. Can you tell Nami I said ´hi´?"_

"_Of course, Vivi," Perona said. She took her bag and left, and Hancock and Perona were alone._

"_You know, I still don´t know much about you," Perona said, leaning forward over the table. Hancock shrugged. _

"_Not much to know." She saw Arlong leaving Nami, and walking towards the toilets, together with his friend. She suddenly felt suspicious. "I´ll be right back," she said._

_The door to the men´s room was open. She stood outside, so that she could hear what was said. _

"_What are you doing here with that orange-hair, Arlong?" the friend asked. "Wouldn´t it be kinda bad if someone saw you? Like, that other girl you´re seeing?"_

"_That doesn´t matter. I´ll soon get rid of them both, as I go to college."_

_Hancock quickly returned to the table._

"_Where were you?" Perona asked._

"_I followed Arlong. He is cheating on Nami," she said. _

"_What are you talking about? Are you sure?"_

"_Yes." Perona stood up._

"_Wait here." She went to talk to Nami. In the meantime, Arlong returned._

"_I know you were spying on us," he said. She continued eating the french fries, without saying a word. "What is it? Got nothing to say? Perhaps you´re just jealous." He sat down beside her, putting an arm around her. Nami came back. As she saw them, she hid her face in her hands and ran out, crying. Perona followed her._

_Hancock stood up._

"_Where are you going?" Arlong asked._

"_Home." As she went to collect her jacket, she saw Arlong was talking to someone behind the bar desk. The employee walked up to her._

"_What is it?" she asked._

"_Do you have an id?" the man asked. She shook her head. The man sighed. "He says you´re underage."_

"_I am not!"_

"_Isn´t that one of your teachers?" Arlong said. She looked at the entrance, and saw the history teacher entering. Arlong hold her arm so she couldn´t run. It took only a few seconds before Olivia spotted her. _

_Next day_

"_Nami and Arlong have broken up," Perona said. "I heard her saying she´ll never talk to you again."_

"_I thought so," Hancock said. "Is everyone mad at me?"_

"_I´m not. I know it wasn´t your fault."_

_That makes one, she thought. Looks like I spend most of my time with her in the nearest future._

"_I´m sorry you were found out, also."_

"_Everyone knows that too?"_

"_Everyone knows." Hancock felt like wanting to smash her head against a wall. _

"_Can I show you something?" Perona asked, gesturing towards her phone. "It´s a video, on youtube. Might cheer you up."_

"_Sure." After the next five minutes, her mood had completely changed. She had never experienced anything like that sudden, incredible longing for someone. There was one thing she knew for sure: she had to find him. _

Present time

**Hancock**

They have been to the beach only a couple of days ago, so she remembered the way. Of course, the weather had been better than it was now; rather windy and looking like a storm was on its way. Since it was still very early in the morning, it was also slightly cold outside. Hancock held her arms tied in front of her, to keep warmth.

She walked alongside the shore. After a while, she stopped and sat down in the sand, looking out to the horizon.

She was still for a long time. Then she pulled off her shoes, tied back her hair, and started walking towards the water. She stopped when the water reached above her waist. She shivered, but the coldness in the water was nothing compared to the cold inside her. She heard a shout from the beach, but didn´t care. She started to slowly swim back to the shore. Suddenly, something hit her lower body, and dragged her under the surface. She barely managed to take a breath, before cold and darkness surrounded her.


	7. Chapter 7

I´m so glad for all the reviews, favorites and follows... it means more to receive them than I expected! Thank you for your support. I know beach soccer isn´t that popular sport... but it was either that or volleyball, and I prefer soccer. Some RobinxLaw in this chapter.

All rights belong to Eichiro Oda.

**Hero**

**Somewhere in Alabasta**

"What a surprise to see you here!"

The man didn´t reply, but simply sat down at the table. "It was you who called me."

"True. Yet, I´m surprised you came."

"What is it that´s so urgent?"

The man opposite him pulled up a paper. It was an article, yellowed by age. The face on the picture was still recognizable though.

"What about it?" he asked, without showing any emotion.

"She has returned."

"Are you scared of a girl?"

"Not scared of her, rather of what she could do. She was your responsibility, or have you forgotten that?"

"I´ll never forget." He studied the picture. "She must be a teenager by now."

"Teenagers can be unpredictable. I don´t want any trouble with this one."

"Do you want me to bring her here for a talk? Or perhaps arrange an accident?" The man chuckled.

"No need for that, just yet! Only keep both your eyes on her for a while."

"I will. Are you planning something?" The man smiled.

"You know I can´t discuss that with you, old friend. Now, get out of my sight."

**Robin**

"Hancock! Get back now!" For a few seconds, it seemed her classmate would be okay. Until she suddenly was gone. It looked like she had dived underwater, but she didn´t return back up. Robin started to fear the worst. "Hancock!" she screamed loudly. The surface remained blank for another fifteen seconds.

She looked around - the beach was deserted. She pulled off her running shoes and waded into the water. She went farther out, starting to swim to where Hancock had disappeared. It was impossible to see anything underneath the surface. "Hancock!" She continued to swim.

She was losing hope, when something touched her foot. She screamed, until she realized there was a hand holding it. She took a deep breath, and dived.

Hancock hadn´t been carried away by a underwater stream to drown, or attacked by a shark, as Robin first had suspected. Instead, she was stuck with one of her feet in something. Robin swam to the bottom, and tried to loosen it.

A stream knocked her over, but it only carried her a few metres. She swam to the surface to collect air, then returned to struggle to free her. Minutes had passed, and Hancock seemed unconscious. As Robin managed to free her, she had to drag her to the surface.

Swimming back to the beach was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She was freezing, her legs were almost numb and had little strength left in them, and it was impossible to swim and breath properly, while also dragging Hancock. She had almost given up, while she felt the sea floor below her feet. Only a little more, she thought.

They came into ground water; Robin laid down, panting heavily, and turned to her friend, who was lying still, her eyes closed. Robin pressed her hands against her chest, trying to make her spit out water, without knowing if she did it right. Even though getting her classmate to safety, Hancock still seemed to be suffocating.

"Help!" she shouted. Her voice was weak by exhaustion. Suddenly, strong hands pushed her away, lifted Hancock and carried her to the beach. Aghast, she watched as a man in a yellow and black sweater and jeans tried to bring Hancock back to life, doing both mouth-to-mouth and pumping at her chest. Robin slowly crept out of the water, her gaze focused on her classmate´s face.

After the third try, Hancock rose and began coughing up water. The man supported her head. Robin sighed, relieved.

"You… you saved me," Hancock whispered.

"I did about half the job. Are you okay?" the man asked.

"It´s so cold," Hancock said. The man took off first his hat, then his sweater and gave it to her.

"Put this on. Do you have any water left in your lungs?" he asked. Hancock shook her head a little.

"N-no, I don´t think so."

"Good." The man turned to look at Robin. It was the third time she met him. He was slim but muscular, and his hair was even more unruly without the spotted hat.

With the adrenaline going out of her system, her body started to shake, despite the warming air. She had never imagined it´d be so cold.

The man moved closer to her. "I´m afraid I don´t have anything warm to give you. May I?" he asked, and she nodded, knowing what he meant. He sat close beside her, putting an arm around her to try warm her. It helped, although she was soaked.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I´m fine."

"I meant, are you okay or are you crazy?"

"Huh?"

"Only a stupid person would have tried to save someone like that. You´re lucky you got back alive."

"She´s my classmate. It would be bad if she drowned." She sighed. "I didn´t really think."

"Is that the girl you were looking for earlier?"

"Yes."

"Quite a pain, isn´t she."

"She might need professional help."

"I wasn´t trying to endanger myself!" Hancock said, walking over to them. She sat down on the man´s other side, and leaned towards him, hugging him lightly. "Thanks for saving me," she said. "How can I repay you?"

"No need," he said, smiling towards her. She put her head against his shoulder.

"What´s your name?" she asked.

"Trafalgar Law."

"That´s cute," Hancock said. Robin saw she was slowly rubbing his bare back. She stood up.

"How come you were here, Law?"

"I live at the campus. I was walking home, then I heard screaming."

"Walking home? From where?"

He smirked. "A late party."

He´s probably drunk, Robin thought.

"What do you do at the campus?" Hancock asked.

"I study medicine at this college during summer. But I normally study in the U.S. I´m close to getting into medical school, so I can work as a doctor."

"You´re a doctor? That´s sooo cool!" Hancock exclaimed. He chuckled, amused. Robin rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for your life story," Robin said sarcastically. "You seem okay now, Hancock. Want to go?" Hancock looked at her, bewildered.

"Not really," she said, leaning closer to the man.

"We need to change to dry clothes," Robin said, putting her running shoes back on.

"She´s right," Law said, as he freed himself from Hancock and stood up. "Perhaps we can go back to campus together?"

"We´re not heading there," Robin said. "Sorry."

"Oh? Where are you going, then?"

"That got nothing to do with…"

"To the royal castle!" Hancock said. "Oh, but only me." She sighed, and grabbed his arm. "I´d feel much safer if you came with me."

The man looked at Robin, raising one eyebrow, as if asking if Hancock was serious. She smiled slightly, and nodded. He chuckled again. Hancock looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Nothing."

"I think you swallowed too much water, Hancock," Robin said. "Being in a near-death situation may lead to being in shock and utterly confused."

"And a vivid imagination," Law said.

"Rash actions."

"Odd behavior."

Hancock looked at them. "You´re just making that up." Law smiled towards her, and now she smiled back. She was surprised he appeared so calm, able to joke despite what had happened.

"What do you plan on doing now?" he asked.

"Go home, of course," she said.

"It´s a few kilometers to the castle. Do you want a ride?"

"You have a car?" Hancock asked, her eyes wide.

"No. But I have a phone, and taxi money. Unless you have some, yourself."

"I don´t," Hancock mumbled. "Robin?"

"No. That would be nice of you. But I can´t pay you back."

"That´s fine." He brought a phone up, and called for the taxi. Then he hold money out towards Robin, but lifted it out of her reach when she were about to take it. "Have a coffee with me tomorrow," he told her. Hancock seemed very surprised, being ignored.

She stared at him. "Fine. When?"

"Around 2 pm, the same place as before." He smirked, and handed her the money.

"There´s a road up ahead. The taxi will wait for you there. Are you fine on your own?"

"Yes. Thank you," Robin said. Hancock handed him his sweater. She snorted as they went.

"What a weirdo."

**Hancock**

The taxi driver looked at them with wonder. As they stepped into the car, Robin told him to drive to the castle, and handed him the money.

In the car, Robin turned to Hancock. "Now tell me, what were you thinking?"

"Nothing, just taking a swim?"

"In this weather?"

"You sound like my mother." Robin sighed.

"You´re lucky I was there."

"Yes. Thanks." She turned her head to glare at Robin. "I still don´t like you."

"Of course not."

She was confused that man had asked Robin and not her for a coffee. Just as Luffy had dismissed her. Am I becoming so undesirable? she thought to herself.

As the car stopped in front of the castle, Robin spoke to her again.

"I know you must feel sad after what happened earlier with that boy… But, you shouldn´t let it get to you. It´s not the end of the world."

How do you know? she thought, stepped out and slammed the door shut after her.

Getting back to her and Nami´s room (Nami was still asleep), she headed into the bathroom to take a hot bath. She fixed her hair, makeup, and laid down on the bed to rest. Her throat was still sore after swallowing all that water. While laying there, she considered Robin´s words. _Don´t let it get to you._

She smiled to herself. She had lost once. But she wouldn´t give up. Not on him.

**Robin**

At breakfast, Kaya and Chopper came a few minutes after her, sitting down at her table.

"You look pale, Robin," Chopper said, concerned.

"I´m fine," she assured him.

"We´re planning on going to the beach today," Kaya said. "Do you feel like coming with, Robin?

She chuckled. "I don´t usually go to the beach," she said. Except for running and saving drowning people early at mornings.

"You live in England," Chopper commented.

"There are beaches in England," she said, chuckling.

"There´s also a sports event today," Chopper said.

"I´m not really interested in that, either. Sorry."

"Here comes Zoro," Kaya whispered. "Chopper, you ask him."

"Eh? Why?" Kaya didn´t have time to answer, before Zoro sat down beside Robin.

"Hi, Zoro. Are you gonna play today?" Chopper asked. Zoro glanced at him.

"What´re you talking about?" Chopper and Kaya exchanged glances.

"I-I know that you… you play soccer," he said. "There´s a beach soccer tournament today."

"No," Zoro said. "I don´t do that stuff."

Sanji showed up, carrying a tray. "*Kaya-san, Robin-chan, here are your sodas!" he said in his usual tone.

"Where are my drink?" Zoro grunted.

"Like hell I´ll make a drink for you, marimo," Sanji replied.

Kaya interrupted the upcoming fight. "Sanji, you´re gonna play soccer at the beach today, right?"

"Of course," he said. "My team´s gonna win." That caught Zoro´s attention. He snorted.

"No way you´d win, idiot," he said.

"What, you think you´re better than me?" Sanji replied. Zoro smirked.

"Yes." Zoro looked at them while Sanji had left. "I guess I will play."

Robin chuckled. Going to the beach might not be such a bad idea, after all.


End file.
